Cup holder



W 3953 K. H. M KAY r 2,831,647

CUP HOLDER Filed July 51. 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1N VENT OR NEW/trim);

Y BY fi ev L Q ATTORNEY K. H. Mac

Apr-ii 22, 1958 CUP HOLDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 31, 1953ATTORNEYS United States Patent CUP HOLDER Kenneth H. MacKay, Ocala, Fla.

Application July 31, 1953, Serial No. 371,565

3 Claims. (Cl. 248-205) The present invention relates to a cup holderand, more particularly, to one of simple, inexpensive constructionadapted to be hung for supporting a paper cup.

There are numerous instances where it is desirable to provide a supportfor a paper cup containing a beverage dispensed from a machine, orobtained from a store or sales stand, for consumption of the beverage inan automobile. Where a sandwich or other food is to be eaten at the sametime, it is desirable to provide a safe support in which the beveragecup can be retained and removed at will.

The general object of this invention is to meet the problem by providingan economical form of cup holder of paperboard, sheet aluminum, orequivalent flexible, bendable material having the requisite stiffness,that may be detachably secured to the inside of the door, the dash, orother convenient part of an automobile for securely supporting a papercup of the type commonly provided for soft drinks and other beverages.

A more specific object is to provide a cup holder or support of the kindindicated that can be cut out as a simple blank and assembled readilywithout tools and with a minimum of skill and effort.

An additional object is achieved in the provision of a unitary cupholder having an annular rim adapted to receive a cup, supports for theinner underside of the rim, and an upstanding mounting or hanging pieceat the supported part of the rim.

It is a further specific object to provide a unitary cup holder ofpaper-like construction comprising, an annular rim portion, supportingmembers for the rim portion, a shaped cup engaging portion below thesupporting members, and a hanging piece above the annular rim portion.

It is also a specific object to provide a modified unitary cup holder ofpaperboard or the like having an annular rim adapted to receive a cup,support portions for the inner underside of the rim, an upstanding tabpiece adjacent the supported part of the rim, an adhesive-bearingmounting or hanging strip on the front face of the tab, and a tear piecein the tab for exposing the adhesive surface of the mounting strip.

Another object is to provide as articles of manufacture and sale novelblanks formed and cut to produce when assembled the cup holders setforth in the preceding objects.

These and other objects contributing to utility, simplicity, and economyof construction in a cup support will be more fully understood from theaccompanying description of a preferred embodiment, taken withtheaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a front perspective view of an assembled cup holder positionedfor use;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a cup holder blank prior to assembly;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the blank of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of an assembled cup holder;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the cup holder of Fig. 4;

- 2,831,647 Ice Patented Apr. 22, 1958 Fig. 6 is a front perspectiveview of the modified cup holder assembled and positioned for use;

Fig. 7 is a front view of the cup holder of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a top plan view thereof;

Fig. 9 is a front elevation view of the blank for the cup holder of Fig.6; and v Fig. 10 is a rear elevation view of the blank shown in Fig. 9.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, a cup holder blank 10, preferably of paperboard that has been stamped out tion 14 provides an annular rim portion20 and a smaller,-

inner disc hingedly connected by a wide tongue or neck portion 22 to thetop of the bottom portion 12. In this cutting out a broad rectangularnotch 24 (Fig. 3) is left in the top of piece 18, leaving a wide, shorttab 26pmjecting inwardly of the opening of rim 20. The effective lengthof the tab 26 is increased by a pair of slits 2 8, 28 forming acontinuation of notch 24.

Upfolding of the lateral parts of the rectangular bottom 12 above theslits 16 along vertical lines running from' points defining thetruncating chord of disc 14 will provide shoulder support or armportions 30, 30 for the annular rim 20 when the latter is downfolded tothe position of Fig. 4. 1

Such folding leaves a lower part of the rectangular bottom 12 thatcomprises a central panel 32 and adjacent outer wings 34, 35. Wing 34 isformed with a central downward and outwardly diverging slit or slot 36,and wing 35 is formed with a pair of short slits 38, 38 extendingupwardly in converging relation from slit' 16 and the lateral edge ofsaid wing. The slits 38, 38 are arranged and dimensioned forinter-locking engagement with slit 36 upon folding and-overlapping ofwings 34 and 35 as shown in Fig. 4. Such folding and interlockingproduces a forwardly projecting conical portion be neath the rearwardpart of the annular rim 20.

The cut out disc or tab 18 is used asthe supporting means for the cupreceiving rim 20 and the'rest of the holder. Although thumbtacks or thelike could be used for securing the disc 18 to a supporting member,'forautomobile and most contemplated uses of the cupholder it is practicallynecessary to use a non-marring, pressure sensitive adhesive. Greaterflexibility for conformity to the shape of a dash or window sill of acar. is provided by a plurality of transverse lines of scoring 40 on theback or rear surface of disc 18. A preferred way of applying pressuresensitive adhesive is to mount an adhesive strip 42 vertically on theback of disc 18 by means I of staples 44 at the inner or lower endthereof as shown;

in Fig. 1. A masking stripl46 may be applied over the adhesive face ofstrip 42 for ready detachment.

The manner of using the cup holder attachment of this invention will beapparent from Fig. 1. With the masking strip 46 removed the attachmentwill be supported from an automobile dash or similar surface by adhesiveattachment of the strip 42. The supporting shoulders 30 will maintainthe rim 20 in a generally horizontal position when a cup of beverage isextending downwardly through the rim opening. The conical formation ofpanel 32 and wings 34 and 35 will add stability where the fiat backthereof engages a fixed support. The front or forward part of the sameconical portion will act in cooperation with the tab 26 of thesupporting rim 20 in self-adjustment of the attachment to use with cupsof various sizes and in providing a mild frictional engagement ofopposite sides of a cup for firmer retention,

The front face of the supporting disc 1.8 may be used for menus oradvertising.

The modified cup holder illustrated in Figs. 6 to represents asimplification of the previously described embodiment of this inventionand provides a somewhat different mounting or hanging means whichcontributes materially to economy of manufacture.

One of the principal differences of the modification to be described indetail is the complete elimination of the forwardly projecting conicalportion beneath the blank portion providing the supporting shoulders forthe cup receiving annular rim.

In the drawings, Figs. 9 and 10 show a cup holder blank 101 of flexible,bendable sheet material such as paper-board, aluminum or the like. Thisblank 100 comprises an elongated bottom part 128 above which is acircular disc 140 broadened at the junction of the two parts. The disc140 includes a circular cut out disc or tab 180 encircled in preferablyspaced relation by an annular rim 200. The circular tab 180 is connectedcentrally to the upper part of the bottom portion 120 by a tongue orneck 226 to provide for its separate hinging.

When hung or in use the circular tab or hanging strip 180 is providedwith a central notch 240 as shown in Fig. 6. This broad, deep notchwhich extends inwardly from a position opposite the hinged connection ofthe hanging tab 120 is produced by a tear line 242 of per forations,indentations, or the like terminating at the bottom above the hingedconnection of the connecting neck 220 in a pointed or tapered portion.In completing the cup holder blank 100 as an article of manufacture andsale, an adhesive strip in the form of a narrow elongated rectangle 420is applied to the exposed face of the circular tab 180, the connectingneck 220, and the upper adjacent portion of the elongated bottom portion120 as shown best in Fig. 9. It will be noted that the long parallelparts of the tear line 242 are spaced outwardly of the lateral edges ofthe adhesive strip 420 and extend in parallel relation. The strip 420has its adhesive surface engaging and secured to the contacted face ofthe portions of the blank 190. The adhesive used may be of thewell-known pressure sensitive type.

To-expose adhesive surface of the hanging or mounting strip 420 forattachment of the cup holder to the side door frame or dashboard of anautomobile for example, it is necessary only to disengage the lowertapered end of the tear line 242 and strip it upwardly to separate amasking tear strip 460, which has been thus removed in Fig.6 prior tohanging of the cup holder. The lower portion of the adhesive strip 420beneath the notch 244 provides an adequate anchor, which may besupplemented by other'anchoring means suchas the staples 44 of Fig. 1 ifgreater strength is required.

It will now be fully understood that the sheet material of the cupholder blank itself, andparticularly the circular cut out tab 180provides the essential masking means for the adhesive strip by which thecup holder is secured in position for use.

The elongated bottom portion 120 of the blank functions as before inthat a shoulder supportportion 300 at each side end thereof is infoldedtoward a central part 302 to provide positive support for the undersideof the annular cup receiving rim 200 when the latter has been foldeddown to the horizontal position of use shown in Figs. 7 and 8. Fig. 7also indicates the manner in which a cup shown in broken lines isreceived and supported by the cup holder.

The simplicity and economical construction of these cup holderattachments satisfy the need for an expendible article for this purpose.

Since the invention herein disclosed may be varied in numerous wayswithout departing from the principles set forth, the scope thereof istobe limited only by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what 5. claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A cup holder blank of paperboard or the like comprising a rectangularbottom, a truncated disc above the rectangular bottom, a circular cutoutin the truncated disc providing an annular rim having the diameter ofthe cutout, said annular rim being bendable about the adjacent side ofthe rectangular bottom, and a pair of inwardly and downwardly convergingslits extending from the upper side edge of the rectangular bottom tospaced points in its central part, whereby to provide a pair of upperinfolding shoulder supports for the annular rim,

and a pair of lower overr'oldable wings for forming a hollow conicalportion.

2. A unitary cup holder formed of paperboard or the like and comprisinga mounting disc; an annular rim portion having ahinge connection withthe edge of the disc and having a circular opening of the diameter ofthe disc; and a rectangular bottom portion having an edge through whichthe mounting disc and the rim portion are hingedly connected, a centralpanel below the rim portion, and wing portions at opposite sides of thecentral panel folded over and secured at their adjacent edge portions toform a conical portion beneath the opening of the annular rim portion.

3. The combination of claim 2 including a mounting strip secured by oneend only to the mounting disc 'adjacent the hingedly connected part andhaving an adhesive surface arranged in opposition to the rim portionside of said disc.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.18,153 Horwath Aug. 18, 1931 712,824 Masland Nov. 4, 1902 1,108,043Weder et al. Aug. 18, 1914 1,108,432 Foster Aug. 25, 1914 1,215,495 CrumFeb. 13, 1917 1,307,482 Cheek June 24, 1919 71,881,224 Nuckols Oct. 4,1932 2,122,999 Burke July 5, 1938 2,240,282 Beaman Apr. 29, 19412,533,738 Moore Dec. 12, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 474,498 Great Britain Nov.2, 1937

